The Other’s Ways

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Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Formal poetry, poem, poetry, Revisionist Historians, Spenserian sonnet, The Other

The Other’s Ways

It’s clear to us that human nature’s changed;
No longer need we fear The Other’s ways.
What came before must now be rearranged
Until it all conforms — our view obeys.
And those few who will not believe — the nays,
They must in institutions be confined,
Until such time as they have joined the yeas —
Until each sick reactionary mind
Agrees with the new system we’ve designed.
The Other’s ways must be approved by all,
And to The Other’s faults all must be blind,
While our old ways must be allowed to fall.
So from The Other we will learn what’s true,
And so reject the teachings of a Jew.

— D.N. O’Brien

A Comforting Millstone

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Australian poet, Australian traditional poetry, Identity politics, poem, poetry, resentment, Revisionist Historians, Self pity, Slave morality, Victim culture, Victim mentality

For the sins of the fathers no men should be whipped –
For the men who were murdered or slaves who were shipped;
But the sins be acknowledged, a lesson to learn,
Lest the sons be inclined to repeat them in turn.

And the sons of the slaves and the men who were killed
Must acknowledge that they are now free and free-willed;
That they owe naught to any, nor do any owe
For what’s passed, compensation – all claims to forgo.

Now the words writ above are but vain hopes and prayers.
History’s “victim”, a scowl on his countenance wears,
As he sinks neath a burden of self-imposed weight,
And he never will drop it – or wipe clean the slate.

History

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poem, poetry, Revisionist Historians, Revisionist history

It’s said that memories of yesterday
Are not so black and white – more shades of grey,
But many things that happened long ago,
They brightly sparkle like a picture show:
The school yard fights, the loves – a young girl’s laugh,
As clear today as in a photograph.

The past, not lost, lies deep within the brain;
Of all those days of life – remnants remain.
Yet there are those who question what we saw;
To rewrite to their taste what came before.
Our history, historians revise,
Although they never saw it with their eyes.